This readalike is in response to a customer's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book-match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids. You can browse other book matches here.

Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
In Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, everything is planned - from the layout of the winding roads to the colors of the houses to the successful lives its residents will go on to lead. And no one embodies this spirit more than Elena Richardson, whose guiding principle is playing by the rules. Enter Mia—Warren an enigmatic artist and single mother—who arrives in this idyllic bubble with her teenaged daughter Pearl, and rents a house from the Richardsons. Soon Mia and Pearl become more than tenants: all four Richardson children are drawn to the mother-daughter pair. But Mia carries with her a mysterious past and a disregard for the status quo that threatens to upend this carefully ordered community. When old family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, a custody battle erupts that dramatically divides the town—and puts Mia and Elena on opposing sides. Suspicious of Mia and her motives, Elena is determined to uncover the secrets in Mia's past. But her obsession will come at unexpected and devastating costs. (catalog summary)

One exciting way that CRRL brings people together is through our vegetable gardens, food collections, and involvement in summer feeding programs. But we also have classes, databases, and books for green thumbs (current or aspiring) as well. Here are some ways that gardens are growing at the library.

The members of the Fright Club are planning a frightful scare. It will be a good one—like always. But Fran K. Stein has something (or someone) else on his mind. He's busy making something, and of course, the others want to know what it is.

Bright lights, cameras, glitz, and glamour! The dream of Hollywood may seem far away, so where do you begin? Actress, writer, and producer Wendy A. Latella will help you move closer to your dream of acting or playing a part in film production with her series of classes.

Acting: Getting Started in the Industry, Salem Church Branch, Sunday, April 15, 2:00-3:00
Headshots, résumés, auditions, social media, agents, managers, and business basics. Grade 9-Adult.

This readalike is in response to a customer's book-match request. If you would like personalized reading recommendations, fill out the book match form and a librarian will email suggested titles to you. Available for adults, teens, and kids. You can browse other book matches here.

If you want a classic love story that do not include the works of Jane Austen or the Brontë sisters, check out the suggestions below.

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Countess Olenska, having suffered the collapse of her marriage in Europe, arrives in New York. Newland Archer anticipates marriage to May Welland, the countess's cousin, but eventually falls in love with the countess. He discovers the real anguish of loving outside of society's rules. (catalog summary)

In The End of Our Story, by Meg Haston, we meet Wilson and Bridget, a young pair who seem meant to be together.

Bridge and Wil have always been together. First, they grew up together. They became inseparable friends soon after and then, even more so, as a couple. Until Bridge broke Wil’s heart, that is. Then, suddenly, the pair that always was just isn’t anymore.

The beginning of a new year is a great time to work on your productivity. While there are many resources—books, articles, TED talks, etc.—it is often hard to determine which ones are helpful. Will a new morning routine help you do more work? Or, perhaps it’s your Sunday rituals that need to change. Maybe you should lock your cell phone in a drawer for hours a day or purchase an app that blocks the Internet. Are you planning your time well, or should you focus more on your energy?

The promise of being more productive often lures me into reading yet another book or article. Until I read Deep Work, by Cal Newport, however, all of the ideas seemed to be more add-on systems than a way to rework how I think and do things.

One of the great perks of being a librarian is that you are surrounded by people who are as passionate about books as you are. I have found that books are a great way to connect with other people and that the shared experience of having read the same author or similar titles can help create lifelong friends. While taking a tour of the Croatian islands during my honeymoon, a fellow passenger and I bonded over our mutual love of Octavia Butler. The other passengers stared curiously at us as we talked a hundred miles a minute and gesticulated wildly because we could not contain our love for Butler and her award-winning books. Thinking back on that conversation, I considered some of the other great authors I look forward to reading throughout the year and especially during February to celebrate African American History Month.